Sepulchre
by YaoiSongstress07
Summary: Sequel to 2009's hit Crossfire! Cloud/Old Snake. In the wake of tremendous devastation, Cloud wishes to plan the world's greatest wedding. Tifa is in for a wedding of her own! Love reigns over the known world!


Welcome to Sepulchre (originally called Breathe)!

This is the sequel to my greatest adventure, Crossfire, made back in the eventful year 2009. The end to such an epic tale spent a long time baking in the oven. I even concocted a sequel to take place during the Christmas season last year. As it turns out, though, Cloud and Old Snake were meant to be a part of my wedding kick.

Yes, this is post MGS4. In other words, post Crossfire. I thought of turning Old Snake back into Solid Snake, but invented a reason for him to keep his old age. Despite how cute he is in his old state, though, it unfortunately wasn't fair of me to keep him there forever. I had to go and learn about Snake's inevitable biological weapon transformation, and how he died a month after the game. Wouldn't have been very nice to have that happen after the wedding, so I invented a wee plot device to fix things.

Please enjoy, and thank you for coming!

Warning: If you've read Crossfire, do I even need to state this? The same applies if you can at least understand my pen name!

**Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own anything.**

* * *

Midgar must've been aware of what happened last night.

She wouldn't have been surprised if it knew. Never before had she seen the current glaze of sunshine. It was faint, for the golden orb was barely rising out of bed, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Sunlight was frosting over the world she inhabited, covering her bar, other establishments and Midgar's quiet streets.

Heaven had painted a smile on her face, but the sunny frosting wasn't the only reason behind her smile's birth. There were breezes blowing about, soft and alive with the fragrance of dew. She tried to remember smelling dew on the wind before, but couldn't recall a single moment. And it was almost as if the winds were singing. Laughing. Prancing through fields of flowers.

Marlene was already out of bed. Sunny and Denzel had gone with her. The two of them, hardly able to sleep in the first place, practically flew out of bed and into the wide world of Midgar. They volunteered to occupy the Invitation Team, and were determined to honor their positions. If either one of them had anything to say about it, their friends would have the world's greatest wedding invitations. And they would all be hand made!

Wedding. She couldn't think of the word without smiling. Wedding wedding wedding. Not only was she going to witness a ceremony for two friends, but she was also going to be ae part of her own ceremony. Her oldest friend made his proposal last night, bringing tears to every set of eyes in the room. The love of her life followed suit, vowing to make her the happiest princess in the world. The two of them must've planned their proposals together.

"Gooooood mooooooorning!"

She put down her cleaning rag and realized her smile was a mile wide. "Morning, Yuffie," she sang with a wave. Her friend closed the door to her bar, sending the song of door chimes into the brisk morning air. "I take it you couldn't sleep either?"

The young ninja, far more spirited than ever, pranced in front of the bar owner. "How could you expect me to? I feel like its Christmas morning," she sang in return, performing cartwheels. "We're on our way to having the time of our lives! I've never been to a wedding before, let alone a double wedding!"

"I can hardly contain myself," the other maiden said, wiping an already-pristine counter with her rag. "Its all so much to take in! Not only do I have to remember Cloud's upcoming marriage, but mine as well! I'm in a whole new dimension!"

"Totally weirder than fighting both Sephiroth and Liquid," the Kisaragi said, bounding onto one of the bar's seats. The two maidens released a heavy sigh of contentment, then fell into silent reflection. Both of them swore the heavens were singing, as youthful birds soared through the morning sky.

The wings of silence sprouted, enabling the bird of tranquility to take flight. Pride, adoration and intense relief grew on two faces, speaking enough volumes to fill a thousand lifetimes. "I'm glad he's gonna be okay," the Kisaragi said. Her friend released a small sigh.

"I'm glad too, but I'm not surprised. Cloud wasn't about to back down until he knew everything would be all right. I mean, come on. Look at what he did! The guy didn't sleep for three weeks! He manipulated his Materia into keeping him awake! No one's ever done that before!"

Yuffie grinned, placing her cheeks between her palms. Cloud. Cloud was a character, all right, willing to go the extra mile for his fiancee. Cloud loved him, adored him, cherished him, and definitely worshipped the ground he walked on. In the Strife's eyes, the love of his life was everything. The beginning, the end, and everything in between.

It all rushed back to her. The two of them met an age ago, destined to battle against the world's greatest threats together. Liquid Ocelot and Sephiroth, both lifelong enemies of the soon-to-be-married couple, worked together to lash out against the world. Neither of them would stop at nothing to attain world domination, pulling the strings behind the Sons of the Patriots system. Cloud Strife worked alongside his vast team of companions to end the threat, but his connection to Snake was the strongest. The Strife rarely left the other's side, and hated leaving him if he had to.

As a tremendous battle drew to a close, life came to a screeching halt. Everyone felt as if they had been cast through a windshield, forced to encounter situations they would have preferred to push away. Cloud wasn't the least bit thrilled with Snake's decision to venture into GW's microwave ovens, and didn't hesitate to let either Otacon or Tifa know. Hal, with a great deal of reluctance, supported Snake's fate and stood against Cloud. Snake, of course, had to face potential death, and couldn't withstand the obvious suffering of his lover.

Everything was a tremendous mess.

Thankfully, life was recovered. The ability to breathe was recovered. Snake and Cloud told the story of their grand finale, explaining how Sephiroth released Cloud out of disgust (he wouldn't stop talking about Snake, after all), and how Liquid was betrayed by the very comrade he worked for. After his only act of kindness, Sephiroth vanished into the heavens. Cloud and Snake were reunited, taken aboard Hal's helicopter.

Cloud. Good ol' Cloud. Cloud loved Snake, even though Snake refused to love himself. In the three weeks following the end of Liquid's reign, and Sephiroth's disappearance, the Strife sought a cure to FOXDIE with Barrett and Cid's help. Shiva refused to steal his ability to sleep, so the Strife re-worked his Materia. He re-programmed his Materia so it wouldn't allow him to fall asleep, and would cause great pain if he even thought of batting his eyes from exhaustion. After re-working the 'program', he shot a great deal of it into his blood. No one knew how he had accomplished it, but they were aware of how he became a hermit during his experimentations. He concealed himself in Cid's lab without eating, drinking, resting-

And didn't think of how to remove the Materia.

That moron. When it comes to Snake, he never thinks anything through! He's lucky Nanaki was able to cook up a counter-attack to the Materia!

Tifa Lockhart read Yuffie's thoughts. "He's going to drive Snake crazy," the long-haired maiden said, shaking her head. Love slathered itself all throughout each one of her syllables. "Cloud runs himself ragged, serving His Highness. Now he's the Head of the Planning Committee!"

"Poor thing," the Kisaragi giggled, in reference to Cloud's fiancee. "He tried to stop him, but we all know how that went! What a way to kick start a marriage! But what about you, now?"

Tifa looked offended. "What do you mean? I'm just fine! I'm not about to drive my future husband insane!"

"Yeah, your love story isn't as complex as Cloud's," the ninja said, pretending to be apologetic. Meanwhile, a beaming Tifa began to clean out a tray of glasses. "You're just ending Hal's long streak of crappy girlfriends, and that's all there is to it."

Hal. Poor Hal. Tifa's smile broadened at the thought of Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich. He had been through his fair share of trouble, going from one failed relationship to the next. While Cloud tormented Snake with his dogged spirit, Hal was forced to wrestle against his harmful bond to Naomi Hunter and the possibility of losing his first, dearest friend. Tifa healed him by falling madly in love with him, and that was that. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Cloud.

"At least the cure is working. In a few weeks, Snake will have enough strength to deal with Cloud's stupidity, ha ha ha!"

Yuffie was thrilled to see her friend in such a radiant, giddy state. "By the way," she said, tapping her fingers on the table top. "Didn't Cloud say Snake's-"

A vehicle plowed through the front of the bar, alarming both of them. The two maidens exchanged a swift glance of shock, then dashed over to the vehicle's makeshift entrance. When both of them identified the driver and passenger, all distress dropped from their faces. "What's wrong with you two?" Tifa asked merrily, eyes twinkling. "Can't use the door like everyone else?"

"Of course they can't," Yuffie sang, bearing the power to cause a cavity epidemic. "They're just as excited as we are!"

"Damn right," the jeep's blonde passenger said, launching himself out of the vehicle. "We're going to Spira!"

Yuffie and Tifa exchanged a wide-eyed look of surprise. "Spira?!"

"Damn straight," the driver said, giving them both the thumbs-up. "The captain ordered it, so pack your bags and get ready to move out! Spira or bust, baby!"

"Yaaaaaaaaay Spiraaaaaa! We're going to Spira, Tifa! Aren't you excited?! Aren't you?! This'll be great!"

Cid rattled on about the babes and lights, Yuffie asked if Vincent had been invited to anything, and Barrett couldn't stop repeating Yuffie's Spira chant. Tifa, in the midst of all this, slumped against a wall. "Thanks a lot, Cloud," she moaned, shutting her eyes.

_You really love him, don't you?_

* * *

The double wedding's going to be held in Spira for a couple of reasons. One, I think Final Fantasy X is one of the BEST Final Fantasies, and definitely because of the Yuna/Tidus love story. Their lore alone makes Spira a romantic place. Second, I created the Spira Cathedral to honor the Yuna/Tidus love story in one of my old, failed Smash adventures, 'Shall Never Surrender'.

Thank you for supporting me!


End file.
